The length of time to complete a divorce depends upon several things. If both sides reach an agreement or if one spouse never responds to divorce papers, a divorce does not take much time.

If both sides cannot agree, then the judge has to decide. In this case it will take much longer because the court will need to gather information and schedule time in order to make a fair decision. Gathering information might mean having a custody evaluation done or getting financial information.

An uncontested divorce is one where the parties agree on a settlement or one of the spouses does not respond. An uncontested divorce is likely to take a few months.

If the parties disagree, the divorce can sometimes take from six months to two years.